A Patna court on Wednesday fixed October 7 for hearing a defamation complaint filed by a trader against RJD president Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav over remarks on the alleged Srijan scam.

The complaint was filed by Ravi Jalan, a gems and jewellery trader, through his advocate Radhe Shyam Singh yesterday alleging that offences have been committed under IPC sections 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult) and 505 (public mischief).

As the lawyer of the complainant failed to turn up in the court today, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Om Prakash fixed October 7 for hearing the complaint.

The complainant claimed that Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Prasad, the leader of the opposition in the Bihar Assembly, lowered his prestige by making “wild allegations” about his involvement in the alleged Srijan NGO scam.

The scandal involves alleged wrongful transfer of government funds to the bank accounts of Bhagalpur-based NGO Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti which were swindled.

The complainant had annexed newspapers clippings to back his claim.

Jalan claimed that Lalu Prasad and his son spoke about his alleged involvement in the fraud at a party rally in Bhagalpur on September 10 and also at a press conference they had held.